Improved mode of lubricating journals



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.,

oHARLEs ANDREW, oF rRovIDENcE, RHODE isLAND.

IMPROVED MODE OF LUBRICATING JOURNALS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 50,786, dated November7, 1865.

&c. 5 and I do hereby declare that the following` is a full, clear, andexact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure lis afront elevation of my improved bearing and the improved devices foroilin g or lubricating the same. Fig. 2-is a vertical section of thesame. Fig. 3 is a plan of the lower part of the bearing or box, showingthe internal construction of the same. Fig. et is an end view of thesame. Fig. 5 is a view of my improved device or conductor 7 (so called)for conducting the oil from the ends of the bearing toward the middlethereof. Fig. 6 is a view of the reservoir for containing thelubricating liquid. Fig. 7 is a vertical section of the same. Fig. Sisan elevation and section of a haud-oiler to which my improvement isapplied.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thefigures.

My invention consists, 1irst,in combining with a suitable reservoir forcontaining the lubricating liquid an adjustable screw-plug forregulating the flow of the same to the bearing; second, in constructingthe box or bearing with a closed chamber or receptacle beneath it andSuitable ducts or passages for conducting the surplus of the lubricatingliquid from the bearing into the same; third, in the use, in combinationwith a bearing so constructed, of certain peculiar devices which I termlickers or conductors, which are arranged in each end of the bearinginsuch a manner as to trail the surplus of the lubricating liquid from theupper surface of the shaft toward the middle of the bearing, and therebyprevent it from flowing out at the ends thereof.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe the same.

In the drawings, A is the reservoir, which is a hollow metallic vesselwith a nozzle, i, at the top, whereby it is illed, and this is securedwith a plug or stopper, b. There is also proi" mi v jecting from thebottom of this reservoir a neck, e, which is designed to be inserted intop of the box or bearing H in the manner shown in Figs. l and 2. Thisreservoir as thus far described vdoes not di'er in any essentialparticular from the ordinary oil-cup in general use for lubricatingbearings. There is, however, in this case a screw-plug, t, screwed intothe orifice or passage through the neck e, and said plug is formed withtwo longitudinal grooves on opposite sides of its body, and there areformed also two corresponding grooves in the inside of the neckf andbesides this there is formed a shoulder on the under side of thescrew-head o, which serves as a cap to cover and shut the orificecompletely, and the parts being thus constructed it will be seen thatwhen the two grooves in the plug and its orice are together they formtwo passages for the oil to escape into the bearing, and the quantitywhich shall thus escape may be regulated either by turning the plug sothat the grooves in the two parts will be only partially open or bysecuring the shoulder of the screwhead more or less closely to the endof the neck, or the ilow of oil may be completely cut off if it isdesired to do so in case the running of the shaft should be suspendedfor a time.

The improved adjustable screw-plug, as described, is also applicable tolubricating reservoirs in other forms-as,for instance, the handoiler,or, as it is generally termed, the oildropper77 for delivering a drip orsmall quantity of oil in lubricating machinery, said plug being appliedto the interior of the deliveringneck c, as shown in Fig. 8, and servingin the same manner to graduate the flow of oil therefrom, for whichpurpose it is both useful and in many cases positively essen tial, andthe use of the said adjustable screw-plug, in combination with such handoiler or dropper, is therefore herein claimed.

H is a cast-iron bearing, as generally formed in hangers for shaftingcalled line-shafting, the same being formed in two parts, as shown inFigs. l and 2. S represents the shaft as it rests in said bearing.Beneath this bearn g is formed a chamber, m, which may be cast in theform shown, and closed from beneath by a metal plate, d, rivetedthereon, as shown. From this chamber there is a duct or opening, Z,extending up to the under side of the shaft,

and from which extend two branch ducts, c c, to near the ends of thebearing, when are formed two annular grooves, r r, completely around theinside of the bearing. There is also formed in the face D of the lowerhalf of the bearing a trough, a, on each side thereof extending from endto end, when they grow shallow and terminate, and in the middle of thesetroughs a notch, is formed, which conducts the oilwhich may collect inthese troughs to thejournal ot' the shaft, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

There isa projecting ledge, g, around the bottom of the chamber-piece m,which forms a dripper to provide for any accidental overflow.

7c 7c, Figs. 3, t, and 5, are the lickers or c0nductors, so called,formed substantially as shown in Fig. 5, of metal, leather, orindiarubber, the curved portion of which rests in the annular grooves rfr on the side of the bearing upon which the oil is carried from the topol' the shaft as it revolves, as seen in Fig. 4, (the shaft revolving inthe direction indicated by the arrow.) Midway between the ends of theselickers there is a conical or pointed projection, o, which extends intothe ends o f the trough a. As situated in the bearing, and thusconstructed and arranged with the upper ends,

7c', bearing on the upper surface of the revolving shaft, the oilthereon, which has a tendency to work toward and run out at the ends ofthe bearing, is trailed or conducted toward the projection o, and fromthencein to the trough n, and thence to the surface of the shaft, andfinally to the receptacle or chamber m beneath.

In the use of lickers or conductors of indiarubber, if the shaft orbearing should become heated, owing to the absence ot' the lubricatingmaterial, the india-rubber would be heated and burned, whereby apeculiar smell would bo created before the bearing became hot enough tobe injured, which would thus serve as a detecter or an alarm indicativeof such absence of lubrication, and lthe same, constructed oi' thismaterial, is for this purpose claimed.

There is designed to be a quantity of wicking or a similar brousmaterial inserted in the straight duct connecting with the chamber, inorder that when the shaft or bearing becomes heated from the absence ofa supply ot' oil from the reservoir above, the wicking may yet lubricatethe shaft from the oil inthe chamber by means of capillary attractionthus created.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s

l. The combination of the lubricating-reservoir with au adjustablescrew-plug, constructed and operating substantially as and for thepurpose specified.

2. The combination of the box or bearing H, the chamber m, and the ductsor passages connecting with the same, the whole being constructed tooperate substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. The licke'rs or conductors 7c k, or their equivalent, in combinationwith a suitably constructcd bearing, substantially as described, for thepurpose set forth.

CHARLES ANDREW.

Witnesses:

J. ERAsTUs LESTER. ISAAC A. BROWNELL.

